I've been having a ball finding wineries in the US and France using Google Earth. It might be fun to put together a list of wineries and their longitude and latitude so that they can be found by wine lovers. Might even be a nice addition to the Wine Lovers Page. [What do you think, Robin?]

Now, I find a nearby city -- say Napa -- and then "fly" up the road a piece to find say Mondavi. Adds a bit of spice to drinking one of his wines. Same in Bordeaux -- the French maps are really quite good, especially in Bordeaux, where the photos seem to have been taken in the winter.

Google Earth says this is what they need to make the search work:

What latitude and longitude formats can I use in Google Earth?

We currently support two input formats for GPS coordinates: DDD (decimal degrees) and DMS (using the 37 degrees 3' 43.22" syntax). Also, please note that the coordinates will only be accepted in latitude and longitude pairs and not vice versa. You can also reference the Fly To tab for acceptable examples of formats for latitude and longitude. Different examples of input show each time you switch tabs in the search area.

Too bad you didn't post this last week. Robin had a free GPS with his car rental while visiting wineries during NiagaraCOOL this past weekend. He was like a kid with a new toy wouldn't let me give him directions.

You can use addresses as well, James -- but that's tougher in France from what I've found. The US addresses work just fine, although sometimes it's fun to locate vineyards that are not close to the winery itself.

Beringer is at 2000 Main Street, St. Helena, CA, and that would work just as well as the map co-ordinates.

Those GPS devices are great fun, Howie. I do a bit of orienteering and we've been forced to forbid their use -- or at least reduce the "finess" of the search. But, on a long hike, it's fun to see how the numbers move.

I'm with Robin - in a car I love using the mapping even if I know darn well how to get where I'm going. And, another aspect of my childish character, intentionally going in a different direction than the device suggests. Eventually it will give up with the U-turn business and come with a different route, perhaps the one I've chosen.

Regards, and so sorry not to be able to join you folks -- it looked like a great event thanks to all your efforts.

Bob Ross wrote:I've been having a ball finding wineries in the US and France using Google Earth. It might be fun to put together a list of wineries and their longitude and latitude so that they can be found by wine lovers. Might even be a nice addition to the Wine Lovers Page. [What do you think, Robin?]

Now, I find a nearby city -- say Napa -- and then "fly" up the road a piece to find say Mondavi. Adds a bit of spice to drinking one of his wines. Same in Bordeaux -- the French maps are really quite good, especially in Bordeaux, where the photos seem to have been taken in the winter.

Google Earth says this is what they need to make the search work:

What latitude and longitude formats can I use in Google Earth?

We currently support two input formats for GPS coordinates: DDD (decimal degrees) and DMS (using the 37 degrees 3' 43.22" syntax). Also, please note that the coordinates will only be accepted in latitude and longitude pairs and not vice versa. You can also reference the Fly To tab for acceptable examples of formats for latitude and longitude. Different examples of input show each time you switch tabs in the search area.

Any interest? I'd be glad to work on the project.

Regards, Bob

Great idea, Bob. I'd be happy to support it, the only issue being time pressure for me. I'll be glad to give the project a home and do what I can, but it's hard to commit much of my time.

Thanks, Robin. I'll put something together. Any thoughts on Google Earth itself? There's a "pro" version as well as the free version -- my initial impression is the free version works fine for this application.

But we would need to have a description of how it works and a link to the Google Earth software. Any concerns/opportunities in that area?

Bob,
I downloaded it to my home computer, (can't do it at work) and I noticed the picture of my neighborhood is several years out of date. They also have my address at the wrong house. Are there other bugs in the system?
Cheers
James

It is fascinating. My wife and I were sitting here for half an hour trying to find her parents' house on the Allegheny River upstream from Pittsburgh. We couldn't quite get it, but it was fun. I like your idea.

Can you believe it Bill, there was a great debate in the local group. Made some of the wine flame wars look tame. Big schism.

One group lets people use GPS devices -- the whole idea is strategy, speed, enhance the strategic decisions -- better to go straight line up and down a valley, or go longer but save elevation. Good intellectual stuff.

Another group is sorry for that little bit of lost treasure hunt element -- a bit of chance that evens the game a bit for weaker players.

I've competed with both groups -- still fun, but more competitors = more fun. At least for me. The GPS has meant smaller competitions and less fun. At least for me.

There seem to be some folks working on a variety approaches to finding wine regions and wineries using Google Earth through various user groups. The most comprehensive wine region effort can be found at

There are commercial packages available for 2000 Australia wineries and 300 wineries in Tasmania. There's also a claim that there is a similar database for all US wineries, but I haven't found it on the blog that touts it.